State Revenues Close to Estimate

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has released the numbers for August tax collections, and they're only .7% below estimate. Last year the state had a $3.25 billion deficit, with revenues about 11% below estimate, according to spokesperson Stephanie Weyant. August is a small month for tax collections and only two months into the fiscal year, so it's too soon to draw conclusions about the whole year, but Weyant says there's room for optimism because economists are predicting that revenues will pick up in the second half.

Two categories above estimate were corporate taxes and tobacco and alcohol taxes; Weyant says other categories were below.